449 



3 



season ; and at Weston-super-Mare it is a common amusement with boys to place small jins 

 along the shore baited with broken fish ; and in this manner numbers of Gulls are easily 

 captured, Kittiwakes and Brown-headed Gulls being most largely represented among the 

 victims." According to information received from Mr. Cecil Smith " the Kittiwake is common 

 along the Somersetshire coast from autumn to spring, and occasionally occurs inland, but does not 

 breed in the county. In Guernsey and the other Channel Islands it is common at the same time 

 of year ; but I cannot find that it breeds there ; though I looked for it, especially this summer 

 (1876), both in Guernsey, Sark, and Alderney, I could not see a single bird either at the 

 breeding-stations of the Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls or elsewhere." It breeds on 

 the Isle of Man ; but whether numerously or not I am unable to say. On the east coast it is 

 numerous in some parts, and breeds in large numbers on Flamborough Head, at the Bass Kock, 

 and, according to Mr. Hancock, on the Pinnacles at the Fame Islands, and on the adjacent 

 cliffs. 



In Scotland, according to Mr. Robert Gray (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 4.78), the Kittiwake is " an 

 extremely common bird on the west coast, where there are many breeding-stations, ranging from 

 the Scaur Rocks, in the Bay of Luce, to the island of Handa, off the coast of Sutherlandshire, 

 on the one hand, and from Barra Head to Suleskeir and Rona on the other. It is abundant 

 during the summer months on Ailsa Craig, and the Mull of Oe in Islay, the island of Rum, 

 where there is an extensive breeding colony, the Shiant Isles, Haskeir Rocks, and St. Kilda. I 

 have nowhere seen greater numbers than in the North Minch at the close of the season, when 

 the breeding-ledges are deserted. Very large flocks then assemble and remain congregated until 

 the weather becomes unseasonable, when they migrate southward. On the shores of the western 

 mainland, however, considerable numbers of Kittiwakes are seen from time to time throughout 

 the winter season frequenting harbours and sheltered bays, and feeding upon garbage which they 

 find floating upon the water. I observed such flocks constantly during the winters of 1866-67- 

 68-69 and '70 in the Firth of Clyde and along the coast of Ayrshire. Mr. Alston informed me 

 that he had been aware of the occurrence of Kittiwakes in Ayrshire in the winter time for 

 some years. Several adult specimens in my own collection were shot near Helensburgh, in 

 Dumbartonshire, in January and February 1867." 



In Ireland, according to Thompson, it is a numerous and regular summer visitant, and some 

 are also met with during winter. 



Professor Newton says that in Greenland it breeds in both Inspectorates, but more commonly 

 in the southern. It is recorded by Graah from the eastern coast of Greenland, though not 

 observed there by the German Expedition ; and Captain Feilden, in his notes made during the 

 late Arctic Expedition, says (Ibis, 1877, p. 409), "I saw a few examples of this species flying 

 over the open water in the vicinity of Port Foulke, 28th July, 1875; but we did not observe it 

 to the northward after entering the ice of Smith Sound ; and in 1876 no specimen was seen as 

 the expedition returned south, until the north water of Baffin Bay was reached." According to 

 Professor Newton it is exceedingly common all round the coast of Iceland, arriving in the 

 beginning of March and leaving about the middle of August ; and Captain Feilden, in his Notes 

 on the Ornithology of the Fseroes, says, " Miiller mentions that this bird is seen in winter, 

 though of course not in the same abundance as in the breeding-season, when it is by far the 



